The widespread use of personal computers, modems and high-speed data connections has fostered the growth of computer networks of increasing scope and complexity. The Internet serves as an example of a type of computer network that, in practice, is a large network of networks, all inter-connected, wherein mail, file transfer, remote log-in, electronic commerce and other services are offered. The Internet uses a client-server architecture which is a network-based system that uses client software running on one computer to request a specific service, and uses corresponding server software running on a second computer to provide access to a shared resource managed by the second computer. The second computer then connects to the Internet, which provides the specific service requested.
In 1989 the World Wide Web (hereinafter “WWW” or the “Web”) was developed by English computer scientist Timothy Berners-Lee to enable information to be shared among internationally dispersed teams of researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The Web is an application program which runs on individual computers and creates connections to multiple different source computers over one or more networks. Web files are formatted using Hypertext Markup Language (“HTML”) and Web communications occur using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”). The Web is a component of the Internet which allows Internet addressable resources to be connected to one another. The concept of connectivity was originally conceived by Ted Nelson in the mid 1960s as a method for making computers respond to the way humans think and require information. In Web parlance, the Web connections are called links or hyperlinks. These hyperlinks contain information, known as Universal Resource Locators (“URL's”), that directs the user to the “address” of the Internet-connected computer containing the files or information of interest. The server that contains the files is called a Web site. Web sites contain documents of which a page is called a Web page. Web pages are displayed on a computer screen as agglomerations of text or images with sounds. On Web pages, hyperlinks may be displayed as text, typically in blue, or as a graphic icon. Framing is a Web browser feature that enables a Web page to be displayed in a separate scrollable window on screen. Users operating client computers interact with the Web by utilizing application programs known as Web browsers. When connected to a Web site, users interact with Web pages by using a mouse and pointing and clicking on visual objects on the screen. Typically, the user interface is referred to as the “front end” in a system. Consequently, the “back end” is the support structure of a system that produces the front end.
The Internet continues to grow exponentially and is becoming an indispensable component of everyday life. Businesses are utilizing it to access and distribute information and increase communication both internally and externally. Millions of people currently use the Web for purposes as varied as buying cars, theatre tickets and clothes, selling antiques, collectibles and real estate, reading the news of the day and sending and receiving electronic mail.
Despite the great promise of the Web as a transactional medium, obtaining reliable online activity data, especially as the data originate from a plurality of browsers and occur across a plurality of Web sites, has been difficult to obtain. A single browser may transact with several independently operated Web sites during a single browsing session. Conversely, a single Web site may transact with several, independently invoked client browsers throughout the course of its operation.
One type of prior art system for reporting online activity is a client-based computer meter. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,115,680 and 5,675,510 to Coffee et al., the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated specifically by reference. The meters are individually installed on participating client browsers and log Universal Resource Locator (URL) data to determine Web traffic information, such as the number of users that visit a particular Web site or Web page and the duration of their visits. However, these meters are cumbersome and difficult to deploy for a number of reasons. The first reason is that they typically require specific versions for every browser and operating system in order to work. Another reason is that such meters are typically downloaded over the network and can be several megabytes in size. For a dial up modem-equipped computer user, this download can take anywhere from several minutes up to one hour. A further reason is that the meters are limited to capturing URL data. This limits metering systems from extracting content information—particularly if the page is served using a secure communications channel such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), or if the content is dynamically generated upon request—and therefore precludes such systems from reporting granular transaction data. For example, quantitative transaction data such as “the total purchase price of an e-commerce purchase” is rarely encoded in the URL, and is typically securely transmitted via SSL within the content of a purchase confirmation page.
Other prior art systems for reporting online activity rely on analyzing Web server log files. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,787 to Boyd et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated specifically by reference. A principal drawback of these systems is that they are limited to tracking access to a single Web site. Because a browsing session typically involves jumping between many different servers, no single server is able to accurately determine from its log what any given user has done over a plurality of sites. To analyze multiple sites, this system would require physical access to Web server log files of all Web sites for which transactional data is sought. In addition, Web server log file output is generally limited to data regarding Web site traffic (e.g., page views, browser usage, navigation paths), rather than qualitative data regarding transactions typically found only in served content.
Further prior art systems for reporting online activity rely on cooperative systems or “affiliate networks” in which individually operated Web sites report transaction data to a centralized server or repository. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,740 to Messer, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated specifically by reference. A number of problems exist with respect to using affiliate networks as a means of obtaining transactional data. A principal limitation of such systems is that each discrete Web site must be individually engineered to monitor transactions between affiliated entities and to send the transaction data to the central repository. As a result, the engineering effort required to join the affiliate network represents a development cost and risk that most sites may not be willing to bear. Furthermore, this system cannot access data regarding transactions on a Web site that is not affiliated with the network. Another problem with these systems is that it does not provide an independent analysis of the reported data; rather, it relies on faith that a Web site correctly and accurately reports its transactions.
Still further prior art systems for reporting online activity rely on the integration or insertion of JavaScript or transparent images (also known as clear gifs, Web bugs or beacons) in each Web page for which transaction activity is to be reported. These systems have similar limitations to the aforementioned affiliate network systems. These systems require the Web site operator to modify or program specific Web pages within a Web site in order to transmit data regarding transactions. As with affiliate network systems, these systems do not provide an independent analysis of the reported data.